Hello,

I have been a lurker on this list for some time now.  I joined several
years ago when my mom became blind in hopes of finding some techniques to
help her adjust.

In the interim, I've become interested in making web sites accessible.  I
have a web-based literary journal called flashquake.  In addition to the
standard fiction, nonfiction and poetry, we provide a venue for visual
artists to display their work.  I have been bothered for some time by the
notion of trying to make a visual experience accessible to those with
visual impairments.  I'm hopeful that we've finally found a solution.

I would appreciate it if any of you who are so inclined would take a moment
or two to take a look at our Gallery and see if:

1) You can access the descriptions.  I worked with a person who was a
screen reader user, and he assured me that the LONGDESC attribute would be
understood by the most recent readers.  I asked about people using older
readers (knowing how expensive they are), and he suggested that I keep the
alternative link to the description text (invisible to the sighted user)
below each piece of artwork.

2)  If the descriptions are meaningful.  Our art director wrote these as an
accurate representation of what's visible in the work, and we've been
assured that they are adequate for someone who was previously sighted.  But
frankly, neither he nor I have any idea what information would be most
helpful to someone who was blind from birth -- or even a clear answer as to
whether someone who was blind from birth would even be interested in
descriptions of visual artwork.

I do believe that our content pages (stories, essays, poetry) are
accessible.  If you discover any difficulties in accessing them, I would be
grateful if you would point them out.

Thank you.


Debi [log in to unmask]
www.consideration.org
www.flashquake.org


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